Both of my kids just LOVE ciabatta bread. It’s a delicious type of Italian bread made from wheat flour and yeast, probably not the healthiest choice of bread but tastes sooo good. It is especially good with soups or as a sandwich. I used to buy pre-baked frozen ciabatta in a store and just put it in the oven before a meal. I wanted to learn making my own ciabatta but I couldn’t find a recipe that seemed easy and quick enough. That is until a month ago when I searched a great Polish cooking blog Kwestia Smaku. There are several ciabatta recipes there but one appeared especially simple. I tried it and indeed the ciabatta was very easy to make and came out perfect. Do you want to learn how to make homemade quick and easy ciabatta bread? Then keep reading…

HOW TO MAKE CIABATTA (this recipe is adapted from Kwestia Smaku)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (I used unbleached bread flour)
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (you can skip this and just use more white flour)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 12 oz cool water

Extras:

• olive oil
• dried oregano
• sea salt
• sesame seeds

1. Put all ingredients into a big bowl (sift the flour) and stir everything with a spoon for about 30 seconds.. The dough will be thick and gooey.

2. Cover the bowl with a plate or saran wrap and leave at room temperature for at least hour and a half. The longer the better. The last time I made it, the dough didn’t rise enough so I waited 3 hours and that seemed perfect. It almost doubled in size. I’ve read that you could also leave it overnight but I haven’t tried that yet.

3. With your hand pour the dough onto a well floured work surface. Sprinkle more flour on top, roll it a little and divide into 4 or 5 equal parts.

4. Oil a baking sheet very well.

5. Stretch each piece of the dough so that it fits on your baking sheet. You can also twist it like I did.

6. Place each ciabatta next to each other and spread some olive oil on the top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, oregano, sea salt, garlic salt or whatever else you think might taste good.

7.  Preheat the oven to 485F. The oven has to be really HOT and you should also keep heating it for at least 20 minutes before you put ciabatta inside.

8. Leave the dough for 30 min to rise. I put the baking sheet on the stove, it gets nicely warm on top when the oven is being heated. This is how they looked after half hour:

9. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 15-20 min until your ciabattas are golden brown  (and your house is filled with beautiful smell of baked bread :)).

The bread tastes best when it’s still warm. It’s perfect with just plain butter. I also made herbal butter (with garlic, parsley or chives) to eat with our ciabattas. You can make sandwiches with it or eat it with some homemade soup (like this delicious and super healthy beet borscht). If you happen to have leftovers they are great warmed a little in a toaster. I encourage you to try this easy ciabatta bread recipe, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. 🙂

click here to check out more delicious recipes

come visit my website

say hello on Facebook

contact me

call me: 608-643-2642